Techmeme
November 5, 2022, 4:10 PM

Top News

Platformer:
Sources detail Twitter after mass layoffs: key teams gutted, severance packages account for the WARN Act, and an ad hoc Google Docs directory of remaining staff  —  I. The Snap  —  The email went out at 5:21 PT PT on Thursday.  —  For a full week, Twitter employees had waited in hopes …
Financial Times:
Current and former Twitter staff shed light on Elon Musk's “War Room”, which includes Jason Calacanis and David Sacks, tasked with fixing the stagnant business  —  In his first week as owner, billionaire axed management, began mass job cuts and launched new products
Faiz Siddiqui / Washington Post:
More: TechCrunch, The Guardian, The Irish Times, Gizmodo, Mercury News, New York Times, NBC News, Politico, Gizchina, Mashable, Cryptopolitan, Bloomberg, Insider, The Hill, Silicon Valley Business …, and Wired
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac:
Twitter rolls out its new Blue subscription, which offers a blue checkmark for $8/month, on iOS and Android in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and UK  —  Twitter is officially rolling out its new Twitter Blue subscription service, which offers “blue check” verification to everyone for $8/month.
Brian Morrissey / The Rebooting:
Elon Musk's focus on Twitter Blue is part of a trend in which consumer tech platforms pivot away from advertising to recurring revenue through subscriptions  —  Tech's marriage of convenience to the ad industry hits the rocks  —  Request: Please fill out this survey as I think through what a Rebooting membership plan would look like.
CNN:
Sources: 1,300 Starlink units in Ukraine went offline as SpaceX and the US DoD negotiate funding despite Elon Musk claiming the company will continue “for free”  —  Ukraine's fears that its troops  may lose access to Elon Musk's crucial Starlink internet service deepened …
Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Q&A with telecom reporter Karl Bode about Gigi Sohn's nomination to the FCC as Comcast and Fox Corp. team up to lobby swing votes in the Senate against her  —  How often do the parent companies of Fox News and MSNBC team up? … Today, we're just talking about a problem.
Wall Street Journal:
Elon Musk says Twitter suffered “a massive drop in revenue” due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, despite doing “everything” to “appease the activists”  —  Chief of social-media company cites activist groups pressuring advertisers, as many staffers brace to lose jobs
More: USA Today, Wall Street Journal, TIME, The Verge, Adweek, CNBC, SlashGear, Mercury News, Forrester, The Information, Bloomberg, Insider, VICE, Watcher Guru, Android Central, Associated Press, and NBC News
Tweets: @elonmusk, @elonmusk, @elonmusk, @goangelo, @loupas, @mikeisaac, @ngrossman81, @mmasnick, @goangelo, @dougjballoon, @jessehawken, @joshtpm, @kurtwagner8, @ggreenwald, @karilake, @rothschildmd, @daveyalba, @noupside, @rmac18, @grady_booch, @madrid_mike, @whstancil, @aranganathan72, @rafat, @mmasnick, @cindygallop, @goangelo, @mmasnick, @jamessurowiecki, @kinsellawarren, @mmasnick, @joshtpm, @goangelo, @goangelo, @tiffkhsu, @cindygallop, @jpbrammer, @derricknaacp, @reckless, @anildash, @jessicalessin, @jamessurowiecki, @maxkennerly, @mikeisaac, @theserfstv, @stevehiltonx, @evan_greer, @karaswisher, @elivalley, @stevekovach, @washingtonpost, @sarafischer, @alexstamos, @alexstamos, @markgongloff, @carnage4life, @therickwilson, @bradmossesq, @mulligan, @sarafischer, @sarafischer, @attorneynora, @pwnallthethings, @loloverruled, @pt, @cabel, @brianklaas, @amasna, @piersmorgan, @lizrummy, @buccocapital, @cbouzy, @garyblack00, @georgetakei, @robdenbleyker, @jamessurowiecki, @bennyjohnson, @seldo, @aodespair, @checkmyadshq, @nberlat, @jilliancyork, @christinapushaw, @scalzi, @bradheath, @barry, @pt, @artemr, @edmundlee, @sdkstl, @oneunderscore__, @nicoleperlroth, @gerritd, @johnpaczkowski, @tomtomorrow, @charlesarthur, @cwarzel, @davewiner, @peterhimler, @fmanjoo, @steinkobbe, @stevekovach, @film_girl, @matthewstoller, @fmanjoo, @teroterotero, @carnage4life, @cwarzel, @markwby, @harrymccracken, @madhurchadha, @karaswisher, @katies, @maxberger, @heerjeet, @renato_mariotti, and @soledadobrien
J.D. Capelouto / Semafor:
Bloomberg:
Sources: Apple is building a live TV ad network and talking to ad partners as part of its deal to stream Major League Soccer games starting in February 2023  —  Apple Inc. is building an advertising network for live television as part of its deal to stream Major League Soccer games next year …
Zeke Faux / Bloomberg:
El Salvador's Bitcoin “revolution” is failing miserably and behind the debacle are crypto evangelists from wealthier countries who cheered on President Bukele  —  On an estuary along the coast of El Salvador, a few miles west of the Conchagua volcano, about 70 families live in a settlement called Flor de Mangle.
Jordan Pearson / VICE:
As chess explodes on Twitch, a look at Chess.com's Global Championship, its first in-person event since 2018, and “fair play” measures amid a cheating scandal  —  Cheating allegations have changed how chess is played, just as the game is shifting into looking a lot more like esports.
Jay Peters / The Verge:
Filing: Apple settles its lawsuit against an ex-employee accused of stealing trade secrets and sharing them with the media; he will pay Apple an undisclosed sum  —  Apple has settled its lawsuit against Simon Lancaster, a former design architect, who the company accused of stealing trade secrets and sharing them with a journalist.

Sponsor Posts

Okara:
Meet Okara, the AI platform that doesn't train on your data  —  Chat with 30+ open-source models (Llama, Kimi, Qwen, DeepSeek) through encrypted infrastructure.  Used by teams handling proprietary code and strategy.
Soxton:
AI-powered law for startups  —  Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better.  We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts.  Join the waitlist for early access!
Zoho:
Team communication in 2026: What's changing, what's fading, and what's next  —  We're already in 2026, and there's a lot happening.  New releases, updated roadmaps, closed tasks—everything is moving quickly.
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Lenny's Podcast:
The non-technical PM's guide to building with Cursor | Zevi Arnovitz (Meta)
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Big Technology Podcast:
Is Google's Gemini Winning?, Thinking Machines Drama, Claude Cowork's Potential
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
Jonathan Haidt Strikes Again + What You Vibecoded + An Update on the Forkiverse
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
Access:
Building an autonomous car utopia with Rivian's RJ Scaringe
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:
Three New Influencers
Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.
Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
Special Edition: Key findings from the Microsoft AI Diffusion Report
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 4:10 PM ET, November 5, 2022.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Deepsekhar Choudhury / Moneycontrol:

Earlier Picks

Jonathan Greig / The Record:
Reed Albergotti / Semafor:
Casey Newton / Platformer: